Apple Deemed Largest Smartphone Manufacturer in Q3 2011

[Akshay Masand]

According to Neilsen’s recent findings, Apple retained its place as the largest smartphone manufacturer in the United States in the third quarter with a nearly 30% share (despite many buyers holding out for the iPhone 4S). This all happened while the overall market continues to shift toward smart devices according to a report from Fortune.

The iOS mobile platform along with the Android platform dominate the expanding smartphone market with a 71.1% share, with iOS holding 28.3% and Android holding 42.8%. Nearly half of all mobile users in the U.S. now own a smartphone with the devices accounting for 56% of handset purchases made during the quarter, which ended in September.

RIM’s BlackBerry platform came in third with 17.8%, which was followed by Microsoft’s Windows Mobile Platform, HP’s Palm/webOS, Symbian, and then last but not least Windows Phone. In the segmented OS marketplace, Apple’s third quarter performance was followed by HTC with a 20.3% share. It should be noted that HTC’s slice of the market incudes units running not only Android, but also Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and the newer Windows Phone platforms. BlackBerry’s third place finish was followed by Samsung’s various offerings, which had 10% market share. Rounding out the top five was Motorola with 10.6%.

App downloads in the third quarter saw Apple and Google enjoying the lion’s share of activity with a combined total of 83% of all downloads made in the past month coming from both platforms. The findings also point to a download ratio that is disproportionate to its user base, though an obvious lack of apps from RIM and a transitioning Windows mobile platform help explain some of the disparity. Google recently revealed that the company wasn’t satisfied with the rate of Android app sales and hinted at upcoming changes that would bring its online store more in line with Apple’s. Android is expected to push app downloads past the iOS in the future, though we did recently report that Google’s revenue from its app store is outpaced by Apple’s model.

What did you think of the stats? Share any thoughts and opinions below!

Source: Fortune, Nielsen

[flash66]

I remember the day Steve Jobs said in his original iPhone keynote "if we can only achieve 1% of the smart phone market it would be incredible"
Look at Apple now. I sure will miss that man.

[Bluemoldycheeze88]

I can't believe Android has 43% of the market. Everywhere I go I see people using iPhone's more often then Android. For example in my family we had 3 android users and 1 iOS user. Now all of us have iPhones with no intentions of going of going back to android.

[TooSlo]

I can't believe Android has 43% of the market. Everywhere I go I see people using iPhone's more often then Android. For example in my family we had 3 android users and 1 iOS user. Now all of us have iPhones with no intentions of going of going back to android.

With more models available on more carriers, it's not that hard to believe. You may also take a hard look at the socioeconomic level where you live when making observations like that.

Well, all of it is just statements like that. /shrug

Looking on my bus, I definitely see more people using Android devices, but again, it's not a fair example of ALL users in the nation, let alone the Seattle metro area.

[bry2k2]

Good job changing the context of the article to make Apple look superior. When in fact against "Android" Apple only holds 28 percent of the market versus 42 percent for Android.this is the original title of the articleAndroid Phones and iPhones Dominating App Downloads in the US

[jajuan]

The last comment didn't change the context of the article. Android should have a greater market share given the fact that they have had multiple phone models using their software on multiple carriers over the past few years. Therefore, Apple's 28 percent of the market share is more significant then Android's 42 percent share.